Curtain stretcher



Sept. 13; 1932.

F.v MOLDENHAUER CURTAIN STRETCH ER Filed Feb. 25. 1930 Patented Sept. 13, 1932 I NITE- TATE PATE T am s -i FRIEDA MOLDEN'HAUER or WATERTOWN, WISCONSIN i i CURTAIN: srnnrcnnn i A li tion med, February 25 1930. ser al 1 431,118,, p r i r 1;

;This invention relates'to improvements in curtain stretchers. f

In stretching and "drying lace curtains, it has been found to be very diflicult to properly support curtains of this type, particularly those made of Irish point lace. and similar fine material, where the curtain is supported from the top by a rodor the like runthrough the'usual top hem, and providing a'w'eighted member at the bottomflof the curtain,"it being necessary innearly all cases to form'a temporary hem at the bottom'of the curtain through which a weightedrod is passed for holding'the curtain'in proper stretched position during the drying- 1 I It is, therefore, one of the objects of my invention to provide means whereby fine lace curtains, such as those constructedfof Irish point lace,.or the like, and those pro- 2 vided with scalloped endscan be quickly and.

easily dried through the medium of a weighted rod applied to the lower end of the curtain by means of movable members carried by the rod and adapted for engagement with the 2 lower end of the curtainr Another object of my invention is the pro vision of a curtain stretcher which includes a supporting rod adapted to be run through the usual top hem of a curtain and a weight 30 rod having loosely mounted thereon, a plurality of hook members which are adapted to engage the lower end of the curtain for supporting the weight rod in position at the lower end of the curtain and applying the proper 5 amount of stretching medium to the'bottom 0f the curtain during the drying of the curtain, so that after the same has become thoroughly dried, it will be stretched out to a a smooth even surface and the longitudinal edges will be stretched equally with the body of the curtain.

A further object of my invention is the provision of a curtain stretcher of the above type which is of an extremely simple nature so that it can be manufactured and placed on the market at a very low cost, but at the same time embodies sutficient means for carrying out the purpose for which it is intended.

Withthe above and other objects in view, the invention consists in the novel features of construction, the-combination: and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in the'c'laim and shown in the accompanying drawing wherein Figure l'is a front elevation illustrating the applicationjof my improved curtain stretcher;- Q

F'gure 2 is a detail sectional viewonthe line 2-2 of Figure 1 taken through therod and th'e'lolwer portion of the curtain, show-i ing oW- the weight rod is connected to the lower end of the curtain. 3

As illustrated in the drawing, Figure '1 discloses the use of my improved curtain stretcher and in this construction,; Iprovide '65 supporting'rod l which may be suspended from any support by means of the eye screws 2, the loops' 3 of which receive the ends of' the'rod 1, as illustrated. In applying the :1; rod 1 to the curtain, it iis -passed'through the usual looped end 4 o'fthecurtaimwhich is ordinarily used for supportingythe curt airr upon an ordinary'curtain poley After: the rod has been'passed throughthe 'loop' the eyes 3 of thes'crew members 2.

I As stated "heretoforefit has been necessary,

when stretching curtains, that are notproweight; rod and this type of construction is objectionable in view of the fact, that after theweight rod has been removed, the low- "ered end of'thefcurtain is creased or wrifnkled Where a temporary hem has been placed 85 in the curtain and it is necessary to pressor iron out'the lower endof the curtain 1f 'In*= order to overcome the obj ectionable feature of necessarily forming a loop or hem 1 in'fa fine Irish pointlacecurtainlor similar types of material, I provide the usual weight rod 5 "and slidably mounted upon this rod 5 are a plurality of loops 6." These lOOps' 6 are formed ofshortlengths:ofjheavy wire, each length having one end folded upon itself to provide the loop 6, withthe other"end ex tending'beyond'theloop at an-obtuse angle, asshown at 7 and at thefextremity of the second end, I provide a small hook 8fwhich is g r formed by'bendingover' the extremity Ofthe ends of the 'rodare engaged with 'tl o or I p second end of the Wire, andextending this bent end toward the opposite side ofthe btuse portion from the first end as clearly illustrated in Fig. 2. From the above, it will be apparent that these loops 6 can be loosely mounted upon the rod and the hook members 8 engaged with the lower end of the ourtain 9 at spaced intervals.

In Figure 1 of the drawing, I have illustrated my improved curtain stretcher as applied to a comparatively fine lacecurta'in hav ing a lower scalloped end and it will be noted that in order to properly support "the rod 5 .at the lower end of the curtain, .one ofthe loops 6, together with'fits" hook 8 is posi shape and relative .position of the hook 8 with respect to the loop 6, the rod 5- will be supported directly-beneath and in a line with the curtain, as shown in Figure 2, so that during the, drying ofthe curtain, the

weightiof the rod 5 will have a tendency; to

produce a stretching action upon the curtain which will be'equally distributed throughseveral hooks applied to the bottomof the out the entire .area of the curtain.

. In applying my improved stretcher to comparatively fine lace curtains where the scalloped lower end is eliminated, it is essential that the loops 6 and hook 8 be equally distributed across the lower end of the curtain so that the weight .of the rodvapplied to the due to the extreme simplicity of my invention, it can be manufactured and placed on the market at a very low cost.

While I have shown and described the preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be apparent that slight changes may be made in the construction when putting the inven tion into practice without departing from the spirit of the same or the scope of the appended claim.

In a curtain stretcher and drier, a curtain having aloop at its upper end and orna mental, spaced points at its lower end, a'jsupporting rod'ad'ap'te'dto' be in removable posi tion in the upper curtain loop for evenly sup: porting the curtain throughout its entire width, in combination witha gravity stretcher comprisinga rod of predetermined weight and .a plurality of hooks slidable thereon adapted to engage the curtain points for iJ-n-' parting .a plurality of even applications of the weight rod to the curtain throughout its 7 width whereby the upper portion of the curtainfis smoothly stretched and the-lower portion thereof is stretched at spaced intervals toldevelop a series of gentle folds or flutes atsaid lower end of the curtain resulting from unduly stretchingthe fabricof said curtain at spaced intervals. I

Intestimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto setmy hand at Watertown, in hecounty of J'efi erson and State of Wisconsin. p v FRIEDA MOLDENHAUER.

body of the curtain will be equally distributed over the curtainand these loops 6 can ,be' equally adjusted upon the rod due to the 1 fact that these loops are loosely mounted and can be moved to any position desired.- It will also be apparent that. as soon as the curtain hasbecomethoroughly dried, the a small hook members 8 can be disengaged from the material of the curtain and the material willnot be effected in anyway whatever, due to the fact that thepulling weight of the rod is equally distributed among the curtain. I 1 1 .From the above,.it will be apparentthat-I have provided a very simple and inexpensive curtain stretcher which will prove extremely useful for stretching high grade lace curtains, without the necessity of providing a temporary hem or loop at the lower end of the curtain for the applicationof aweighted 1 rod or the like,'and the curtain canIbe quickly .and easily mounted upon my improved stretcher, or removedtherefrom.

Attention is also, directed to thefact-that i I I II -10 

